I said it. I said it and I'll qualify it:
Whenever you talk to the snobbish amongst Fandom - the Elitists who sneer at "superhero" comics (their quotes, not mine) - they always attempt to prove their worth by mentioning the most obscure "indie" comic title they have on the tip of their tongue. Hardcore horror movie buffs do the same. So do death metal fans. By mentioning the most obscure artist(s) they can think of, they're hoping to stump you, thereby affirming their obviously superior taste in the medium.
And it's crap.
There's a very good reason most independent comics are so obscure - and it's the same reason so many "hardcore" horror movies and death metal bands are too: they suck. If they didn't suck, they'd either be distributed by larger companies or bought outright by the same.
And don't even bring up Aardvark-Vanaheim (Dave Sim, Cerebus) because back when Sim did it, he did it for a reason - that reason being he didn't want to sell-out and lose control of his work. The industry has completely changed since then, with the advent of Image as well as the "creator-owned" subsidiaries of some of the other companies, such as Dark Horse and DC.
The fact of the matter is that most independent comics titles, just like a lot of B-rater splatter flicks and D-rater death metal (or punk or hardcore or Emo, etc.) outfits, remain obscure because they're really bad. Some of them stand-out from the crowd and are championed by these elitists until they become familiar to the mainstream (whether or not they are ever widely-read, just the fact that the mainstream crowd has heard the name is enough), at which point the elitists suddenly turn on them and begin demeaning them by accusing them of having "sold-out" and "jumped the shark," etc.
So the next time you're talking to some guy who likes to constantly taunt you and your knowledge of comics, music, literature, or some other art, by continually mentioning obscure artists or titles, just remind him that, while you don't usually respond to baiting or intellectual trolling, the only possible reason you haven't heard of that artist or title is because it sucks.
I guarantee you'll be right 9 times out of 10.
Whenever you talk to the snobbish amongst Fandom - the Elitists who sneer at "superhero" comics (their quotes, not mine) - they always attempt to prove their worth by mentioning the most obscure "indie" comic title they have on the tip of their tongue. Hardcore horror movie buffs do the same. So do death metal fans. By mentioning the most obscure artist(s) they can think of, they're hoping to stump you, thereby affirming their obviously superior taste in the medium.
And it's crap.
There's a very good reason most independent comics are so obscure - and it's the same reason so many "hardcore" horror movies and death metal bands are too: they suck. If they didn't suck, they'd either be distributed by larger companies or bought outright by the same.
And don't even bring up Aardvark-Vanaheim (Dave Sim, Cerebus) because back when Sim did it, he did it for a reason - that reason being he didn't want to sell-out and lose control of his work. The industry has completely changed since then, with the advent of Image as well as the "creator-owned" subsidiaries of some of the other companies, such as Dark Horse and DC.
The fact of the matter is that most independent comics titles, just like a lot of B-rater splatter flicks and D-rater death metal (or punk or hardcore or Emo, etc.) outfits, remain obscure because they're really bad. Some of them stand-out from the crowd and are championed by these elitists until they become familiar to the mainstream (whether or not they are ever widely-read, just the fact that the mainstream crowd has heard the name is enough), at which point the elitists suddenly turn on them and begin demeaning them by accusing them of having "sold-out" and "jumped the shark," etc.
So the next time you're talking to some guy who likes to constantly taunt you and your knowledge of comics, music, literature, or some other art, by continually mentioning obscure artists or titles, just remind him that, while you don't usually respond to baiting or intellectual trolling, the only possible reason you haven't heard of that artist or title is because it sucks.
I guarantee you'll be right 9 times out of 10.
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